During industrial paving operations, many different types, sizes and shapes of trucks deliver paving material to paving equipment for application to roads or other surfaces. The trucks delivering the paving material must back up toward a paving machine such that the truck operator can tilt the truck's bed into a position to unload paving material into a receptacle on the paving machine. Some paving machines have push-rollers that are attached close to an end of the receptacle. When the paving machine is set up correctly, the tires of a reversing truck carrying paving material will contact the push-rollers when the truck is at a proper distance for its bed to unload material into the receptacle. Different trucks, however, require the push-rollers to be positioned at different distances to ensure proper positioning of the truck bed for material transfer.
Prior push-rollers require manual horizontal adjustments of the push-roller to accommodate trucks of different shapes and sizes transferring paving material to a paving machine. Manual adjustment of the push-roller requires unbolting portions of the push-roller and manually repositioning it based on the particular truck making a material delivery. This process can be time consuming and laborious, increasing the time and personnel required to complete a paving operation.
Powered push-rollers have been proposed in the past with mixed results. For example, JP7102520A discloses a push-roller that can be moved back and forth by a hydraulic cylinder relative to the machine. The disclosed push-roller retracts when the tire of a dump truck contacts the push-roller and locks in place at a predetermined distance. However, the push-roller must be reset for each truck that engages the paving machine. For example, if the position of the push-roller is not reset between trucks, then an incorrect distance can be used.